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Food-Soiled Paper and Cardboard
Instructions
Food-soiled paper items such as napkins, paper towels, and paper or cardboard food containers can be composted in your green, compost cart. If there is plastic lining in your food container, it goes in the grey cart (landfill). It's only compostable if it has a BPI certification for compostability. If you are unsure of the item's certification, it should go in your grey cart. If you've used your paper towel to clean-up products other than food, such as glass cleaner or bleach, it goes in your grey landfill cart.
Alternatives
Bring a reusable (e.g. metal or ceramic) container or mug instead of using a paper to-go container. For paper towels, try switching to washable, reusable cloth napkins or towels.
Facts
Paper and cardboard with oil, grease or food stains are not desirable for recycling purposes, because the paper fibers will not be able to be separated from the oils during the pulping process. Food is a major source of contamination in paper recycling.
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